Scrap special provision in child marriage act: BNP

BNP today demanded scrapping of special provision in the Child Marriage Restraint Law saying that the provision would encourage child marriage.

Opposing the special provision, in a statement, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir sharply criticised the government for keeping special provision allowing under aged boys and girls to tie knot in special circumstances in law.

Keeping the special provision, parliament on February 27 passed the proposed law with 18 and 21 as minimum marriageable age for women and men respectively despite many pleas, petitions and protests by rights groups who think it is never a good idea to keep any room for marriages prior to one's adulthood in a country where one of the world's highest percentage of child marriages take place.

With the exception of a few countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Bangladesh has the highest number of underage married girls, record shows.

The “special circumstances” provision of the law would permit parents and in the absence of parents, a girl's or boy's guardians, to get a court order and marry their wards off even before they reach the minimum marriageable age in their (the children's) “best interests”.

And no age limit is specified in the law for solemnising marriages under such “special circumstances”. So practically it can be 16 years of age, 14 or even below.

In the statement, Fakhrul said the law would create obstruction to country’s social advancement.

He also said Bangladesh in the last several decades made significant progress in establishing rights of women and children. “The government has enacted the law in a bid to create obstacle in the advancement of women and children,” Fakhrul added.

Fakhrul also said there was no necessary to keep the special provision as country’s people have already accepted 21 and 18 as minimum age for boys and girls to get marriage.

Through passage of the law, the government showed its reactionary character,” added Fakhrul.